A campaign to oppose a medical waste incinerator in Knowsley had led to Labour councillors being accused of “sounding off on Facebook like you’re on Jeremy Kyle” by activists.
The remarks were made by one of the organisers of Stop the Incinerator, a group opposed to the plans, which could see tonnes of medical waste burned at an industrial estate in Simonswood on the outskirts of Kirkby.
The proposals fall under Lancashire Council, although protesters say housing estates in Kirkby and other parts of Knowsley will be the area to feel the effects of the plans.
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Earlier this week, Knowsley Labour, who had been vocally opposed to the proposals took to Facebook to say councillors were refusing to be part of a campaign meeting because the involvement of independent candidates had turned it “political.”
In the post, Knowsley Labour said: “Kirkby Labour Councillors will not be attending the Stop the Simonswood Incinerator public meeting, this week.
“This isn’t because we don’t care or don’t want to engage. It is purely because, the campaign is being used as a political platform for the 'Independent' Party Candidates.
“No issue this important to our community should be used in such a way. Private groups for public issues, seems to be the trend, for some.
“We believe in openness, transparency and accountability. Labour Knowsley tried to engage and provide information on their group and were removed, on the basis that they wanted to keep politics out of it, despite us not making any political posts and only providing information relevant to the planning application.
“We believe this meeting is a political one, so it is not appropriate for us to attend. We do, as always remain accessible to our residents through the usual channels.”
One of the organisers of the campaign group blasted Labour Knowsley for the remarks in a lengthy reply to the post.
Denying any political leanings of the campaign group, the campaigner said the post, which was about the theft of CCTV equipment installed by Knowsley council, had been removed because “it was inflammatory and in poor taste.”
“As councillors, conduct yourselves with professionalism rather than sounding off on Facebook like you’re on Jeremy Kyle.”
She added: “Making out a campaign made by me, a completely private citizen, has only been made for political reasons is low. Very, very low. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Leader of Knowsley Labour and the council, Cllr Graham Morgan said: “Knowsley Labour Councillors have been actively campaigning against the proposed medical waste incinerator since we were made aware of it by Lancashire County Council.
“Back in February, a number of Kirkby Members were invited to meet with some of the organisers of Stop the Incinerator group to discuss the application, and we gave them a range of advice and updated them on what we had already done, which included the setting up of a petition, a formal objection from Knowsley Council and individual objections from Kirkby Labour Councillors.
“We agreed to keep their group informed of the application, which we endeavoured to do. The final post we were allowed to post on the group’s social media was not political in nature nor was it “inflammatory”, quite the opposite, it was simply for information, informing the group and their followers that Knowsley Council had tried to address the problems of heavy goods vehicles illegally travelling on certain roads to the site in Simonswood, by installing cameras, which had unfortunately been damaged and stolen – that post was rather surprisingly removed for being “political”.
“At the same time a request from the group was made to Knowsley Labour to donate funding to their campaign. We explained that that would not be appropriate, and that we had already funded a leaflet which would be distributed throughout Kirkby.
“Regrettably, we were then removed from the group and prevented from posting any further information, which is of course their right.
He added: “The reaction of some of the group to our recent statements has been rather surprising. You only have to look at our social media posts to know that at no time has Knowsley Labour engaged in any disrespectful comments towards any members of the group or general public on social media.
“Knowsley Labour will continue to campaign against the proposed incinerator on behalf of the residents of Kirkby.”
